Seattle's Holly Park housing project opens on August 1, 1942.

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On August 1, 1942, in Seattle, the Holly Park housing project for war workers opens on South Beacon Hill. Each unit features an electric range, an electric water heater, and an electric refrigerator. The 896 units cover 108 acres.

The Seattle Housing Authority was established on March 13, 1939, to build low-income housing with local funds and 60-year loans from the federal government. Yesler Terrace was the first SHA project. In 1940, as the United States was being drawn into World War II, Congress passed the Lanham Act to directly fund housing for workers in defense plants. The Seattle Housing Authority undertook to build 8,400 housing units in Seattle including three permanent garden communities -- Rainier Vista in the Rainier Valley, High Point in West Seattle, and Holly Park on South Beacon Hill. Architects John Paul Jones, Frederick T. Ahlson, and Paul Thiry (1904-1993) designed apartments in one- and two-story wood-frame buildings. Landscaping design was by Butler Sturdevant.

The Western Construction Co. built Holly Park with a bid of $3,095,865. The project included a community center (Lee House, which predated the project), a childcare center (by 1943, one-half of Boeing's work force of 10,000 were women), a club room, and a central community laundry. In 1944, the community newspaper, The Holly Parker, reported weekly movies (provided by the Boeing Co.), a childcare center, Campfire Girls, and Boy Scouts. A public health nurse provided nursing care in the project.

After World War II, the housing shortage continued and veterans and their families lived there. During the Korean War, the project again housed defense workers. In 1954, Holly Park was converted to low-rent housing.

Sources:
Susan D. Boyle, "A Historic Report on Holly Park," typescript dated December 18, 1997, folio: Holly Park Materials, Seattle Public Library, Seattle, Washington.

By David Wilma, February 26, 2001

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This essay made possible by:
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Holly Park, 1942
Courtesy Seattle Housing Authority

Holly Park housing, 1999
Courtesy Seattle Housing Authority